FEC Record: Litigation

Hassan v. FEC

On March 11, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that Abdul Karim Hassan lacks standing to challenge the constitutional qualifications to be President and the laws governing the presidential public funding program. (See Record summary.) The court of appeals also affirmed the district court’s conclusion that the natural born citizen requirement in the constitution has not been implicitly repealed.

Mr. Hassan, a Guyana native who became a U.S. citizen, claimed that he should be able to receive public funding for his campaign under the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act, despite his constitutional ineligibility to hold the office of President. The Commission’s contrary decision in Advisory Opinion (AO) 2011-15 prompted the lawsuit.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit No. 12-5335.